The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — is in Latvia to review the acts competing in Supernova 2019. Today we will review Elza Rozentale and Kris & Oz. Are either of them capable of victory? Read on to find out!
Elza Rozentale — “You Came on Tiptoe”
“You Came on Tiptoe” reviews
Antranig: “You Came on Tiptoe” is too Baltic for its own good. This is exactly the sort of song you expect to see ten of in a Baltic national final. What Elza has going for her are some good vocals and an interesting chorus. However, I barely endured the first minute long enough to make it to the decent chorus. It certainly has its moments but at least 70% of the song is completely forgettable.
Score: 5.5/10
Deban: A tip-toeing lullaby with a predictable chill beat. Elza may be pretending to to like her song, but she doesn’t fool me. This is sleep inducing at best, and does not conjure any positive feelings. I simply don’t imagine this doing well.
Score: 3/10
Sebastian: An adorably cute song title fails to lift this entry to superstardom. Elza’s stage presence is really something — really committing to the performance and delivering real attitude in the vocals. However, an instrumental interlude for a chorus does not meld well with Elza’s jazzy tone, reducing the value of what could be a great song.
Score: 5.5/10
Bernardo: It’s refreshing to listen to someone sing at Supernova without their vocals being eaten by the synth production. Having said that, Elza’s interesting voice is the only thing to positively mention here. Three minutes of dull and forgettable lounge music.
Score: 3.5/10
Edgars: Another boring song which wouldn’t make it so far if this year’s songs weren’t so awful. Please stop sending songs like this to Supernova — it’s getting really hard for me to explain to my friends that Supernova is a really awesome contest because of songs like this. Elza has a good voice and she will have a couple votes from her family and friends but to get the support of Supernova fans, you need to have a way better song, darling.
Score: 3/10
Robyn: Repetition is a literary device, where a phrase is repeated for emphasis. That leaves me wondering why it’s so important to repeat “You snuck into my heart! On tiptoe, so slow!” over and over and over. “You Came on Tiptoe” feels like a half-finished demo, desperately in need of some more substantial lyrics.
Score: 3/10
In our Supernova 2019 Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Natalie: 5.5/10
Luis: 3.5/10
Kristin: 2.5/10
Lukas: 5/10
Oliver: 4/10
Jordi: 4/10
Jack: 3/10
Florian: 3/10
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 2.5 and a high of 5.5.
Wiwi Jury Verdict: 3.83/10
Kris & Oz — “Midnight Streets”
“Midnight Streets” reviews
Natalie: The outfit could make an entire Wiwi Jury review all to itself. But as we need to make things brief, let’s focus on the song. It has a high degree of class and poise to it which is really cool. It’s beautifully understated but also slips in a few other elements which keeps it fresh and interesting. I like it. But for a country that’s been struggling to get to the final for a while, they probably want to go with something with a bit more impact.
Score: 6.5/10
Luis: This is just too nice. These “Midnight Streets” are those of a little town in the campside in the summer. There are some people, a little bit of chatter, but you can stroll around peacefully because the weather is perfect. Totally idyllic. However, this is Eurovision, and you have to impress Europe in three minutes. That means your streets need to be vibrant. I’m certain these guys can bring something quirky and fresh knowing their two attempts at Supernova, but they insist on elevator music.
Score: 5/10
Kristin: “Midnight Streets” is an über chilled tune, with a bit of funk in it. It’s almost too chilled to be honest. There is, however, enough Sadé feeling in the singer (not sure if she’s Kris or Oz) for me and hopefully others to notice. If “Midnight Streets” doesn’t grab you at the first listen, it will embrace you at the second one. Something is up in Riga and Kris & Oz might be responsible.
Score: 6/10
Lukas: I really like the lead vocalist’s strong and unique voice and how well she sounds. But the song is just not that strong and it‘s quite disappointing. You just listen to it and when it‘s over, you can’t remember much about it. That is not good if you want to do well at Eurovision. There is just nothing memorable about it — even the melody is forgettable and I think this band is capable of more since it’s not their first try at Supernova.
Score: 6/10
Oliver: “Midnight Streets” starts off nicely, taking you to a quaint backstreet coffee shop with a subtle beat but thereafter the magic begins to fade. While it does portray itself as being laid back and chill, it comes across as almost monotonous with little to no variation with the instrumentation and lyrics.
Score: 3.5/10
Jordi: What a breath of fresh air! This easily stands out among the selection. It has a completely different vibe, somehow jazzier and full of soul. Yet an offering that is bound to not be to everyone’s taste. However, it’s necessary to mention her exquisite tone of voice. The song manages to grab the listener, being one of the most soulful offerings in this year’s Supernova. It is in this quiet quality where I see more potential. The song should include a wider range in which the artist can show off more dynamics and her tone. Over three minutes, it feels a bit flat.
Score: 6/10
In our Supernova 2019 Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Jack: 3/10
Florian: 4/10
Antranig: 5/10
Deban: 6.5/10
Sebastian: 4.5/10
Bernardo: 5/10
Edgars: 3/10
Robyn: 6.5/10
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 6.5.
I have to say I hardly remember most of the songs in Latvia’s NF.
“You came on tiptoe” is forgettable. Once you hear it you forget it. Good voice though, she could have had a better song.
“Midnight streets” It’s like it’s going somewhere but it doesn’t really get there. Indifferent. Beautiful voice though.
You Come On Tiptoe – Facepalm 🙁 Boring, flat and clumsy. This is a fodder even by the low Supernova standards. – 2/10
Midnight Streets – I’ll also put my favorite song on repeat, but it certainly ain’t gonna be this one. It tries to create a mood, but it feels too monotone and disinterested. It’s more of a background music for me. – 3.5/10
I love Baltic countries, but why the he l l they get so much attention ?????
Give us a break.
just stop to score Baltics, if you donn’t do the same for Serbia, Moldova or whatever.Who pays you, and who pays you to delete everything against SJBaptiste?
Estonia and Latvia are among the first ones who fully released all their songs in the competition. Moldova and Serbia, for instance, haven’t. It’s not a preference, it’s the order.
Midnight Streets is amazing and I know Latvian public will appreciate it. Hopefully, juries won’t fail them like they did last year.
Staccato was so much better song by Elza. To bad that she didn’t participate with that.
Kris And Oz should have went last year. This is not as good but it’s still pretty decent by Latvian standards. Not sure I’ve heard many better songs in Supernova this year.
“Midnight Streets” is so special and memorable, I catch myself singing “I’ll turn on my favorite song and put it on repeat” at least once a day 😀 Her voice matches the jazzy production and the accent in her English is sweet 🙂